Chapter 2 Lenses for Conceptualizing Problems and Interventions: The Person in the Environment Flashcards
person-in-environment approach
views client problems within the environmental context in which they occur, and it is the cornerstone of social work practice
micro-mezzo-macro approach
helps social workers to view people as active agents whose lives, relationships, and environments are interdependent
micro level
incorporates facets of the individual such as biological, psychological, developmental, spiritual, emotional, cognitive, recreational, and financial aspects of personality and individual functioning considered vital to a person’s well-being
mezzo level
consists of elements in a person’s immediate environment
macro level
includes larger social forces that might affect an individual, such as governmental policy, discrimination, oppression, social policy, economic conditions, societal values, and even historical events
Micro-mezzo-macro levels of conceptualization critiques
many social workers will probably not have time to fully explore the range of issues that may be impacting clients
It cannot be empirically tested
interventions based on this approach can vary a great deal
this approach does not have a consistent set of constructs that can be applied to client situations
biopsychosocial approach
breaks down human behavior into several components that involve a person’s biological, psychological, and social functioning
biological level in the biopsychosocial approach
the client’s diet, health (both past and present), exercise patterns, sexual functioning, medication and substance use, and family health and genetic history - any factor that relates to the client’s biological functioning and affects the client’s well-being
Psychological level in the biopsychosocial approach
The client’s self-esteem, coping skills, mental health (both past and present), personality characteristics, family history of mental illness, spiritual development, and cognitive and emotional development
Social level in the biopsychosocial approach
the client’s work stability, engagement with social activities and recreation, and relationships with family, friends and co-workers
Biopsychosocial approach critiques
too narrow - conceptualizing clients’ functioning from these three realms fails to acknowledge both the complexity of clients’ lives and clients’ interactions with larger social forces
the biopsychosocial approach is too problem-oriented and not sufficiently focused on people’s strengths
It views the individual having the problems as being responsible for causing them
This treatment of individuals can perpetuate an individual’s problems by ignoring larger social issues that can contribute to individual problems and make them more difficult to overcome
debate about whether social workers know enough about biological aspects of human behavior to assess various problems and to incorporate alternative interventions into their work
Systems Theory scholars
Talcott Parsons, Kurt Lewin, Urie Bronfenbrenner, and Ludwig von Bertalanffy
Systems Theory
views human behavior as the result of active interactions between people and their social systems
subsystems
smaller systems within a larger system
boundaries
patterns of behavior that define relationships within systems and give systems their identity
Differentiation
A system’s movement from a simple existence toward a more complex form of functioning, while still maintaining its unique characteristics
Entropy
a system’s movement toward disorganization and death.
Negative entropy
a system’s movement toward growth and development
Equifinality
the tendency for the same end state or outcome in a system to be achieved through many different paths or trajectories
Feedback
A form of input, which informs a system about its performance (can be positive or negative)
Homeostasis
the tendency that systems have to work toward and maintain stability and equilibrium
Input
the information, communication, or resources coming into a system from other systems
Output
what happens to input information, communication, or resource after it has been received by a system
Multifinality
the possibility that similar circumstances or conditions in a system will lead to different results or outcomes
Reciprocity
the necessity for a change in one part of the system to impact other parts of the system
Roles
Socially or culturally sanctioned patterns of behaviors expected of individuals within a system
Synergy
the energy that systems create to maintain themselves
system
set of parts that are interdependent and make up an organized whole
Genograms
provide a visual representation of a family system
Categories of info depicted in genograms
- Demographic information for each family member: gender; dates of birth, death, marriage, and divorce; significant health or mental health related issues such as drug or alcohol use and hereditary diseases such as cystic fibrosis
- Relationships and communication shared among family members
- Types of boundaries between family members
- Subsystems that might exist in a family system
Ecomaps
similar to genograms, but they go beyond genograms by demonstrating visually how family members are affected by, and react to, their broader ecological context
Systems Theory critiques
- Identifying the many systems in a client’s life and assessing how these systems interact and impact a client’s functioning is not an easy task
- this broad focus on systems as well as concepts that seem somewhat abstract can make the theory difficult to articulate and test empirically, especially when attempting to predict behavior
- some social workers also argue that this theory is too problem-oriented, ignoring positive areas of functioning in clients’ lives
- the focus on family and other systems in this theory makes it less likely that social workers will attend to individual biological aspects that could be contributing clients’ problems
- social workers may overlook important information about past functioning that could be relevant to current problems
Ecological theory
explains human development by describing aspects of the individual, the environment, and the interaction between the two
Fundamental tenet of ecological theory
the way people perceive their environments and experiences significantly affects their well-being
Microsystem
consists of all the roles and relationships that a person has in the immediate environment
Mesosystem
the interactions among two or more environmental settings in which people live
Exosystem
all those social settings in which things happen that affect people (child’s school, parent’s workplace, neighborhood community center)
Macrosystem
encompasses all the ways in which larger cultural factors affect the other levels of a person’s environment and, consequently, how they affect a person’s development
Adaptation
the ability of individuals to adjust to their environments
Coping
The ways in which individuals deal with negative events and situations
Energy
The active engagement of people with their environments. Can take the form of input or output
Interdependence
the reciprocal and mutually reliant relationships that people have with one another and with their environments
Social Environment
the conditions, circumstances, and human interactions that encompass human beings
Transactions
communication, interactions, or exchanges that occur between people and their environments. Can be positive or negative
Ecological Theory critiques
- There are, potentially, an endless number of areas in each level that could be assessed, which can seem overwhelming
- The broad scope of the theory makes it difficult to test empirically and to use to predict behavior
- Ecological theory does not pay enough attention to biological aspects of clients
Ways to combine ecological and systems theories
- Both theories look at the interactions and interdependence between person and environment
- Both view these interactions and relationships as dynamic, changing processes
- Both focus on systems and how these systems maintain themselves, influence other systems, and work together to function as a whole system
Strengths perspective
based on the assumption that all human beings have the capacity for growth, change, and adaptation
Empowerment
the social worker is arming clients with information that they can add to their set of skills
Strengths perspective critiques
- the tenets of the perspective can be linked with values of individual responsibility and personal autonomy
- a focus on the individual is criticized for promoting the idea that self-esteem in and of itself can promote well-being and solve social problems
- may undermine the legitimacy of established empirical evidence pointing to biological and related causes for individual issues
- assumes that communities and other resources on which people may draw for resources are inherently good
- many social work agencies may not be amenable to using only this approach
- different social workers define the meaning of strengths very differently
Social workers who want to use the strengths perspective may not be taken seriously by other professionals
Intersectionality
a way to help explain the oppression of African-American women
Intersectionality Theory critiques
- no testable, concrete constructs exist to help practitioners apply and evaluate the theory in practice
- the theory in its current form is relatively new, and it is constantly changing as it is applies in different disciplines to a wide range of individual and social problems
